I have to give my Dad full credit for this recipe. It’s his delicious rendition of the famous 11 herbs & spices combination you’ll find in KFC recipes. The more basic herbs are brought to a whole new level with the addition of kosher salt, white pepper, curry & chili powders. (My Dad’s name is Ken, hence the ‘Ken-Tucky’ recipe name).

You can fry the chicken, as suggested below, but we’ve also baked the chicken at 350F for 35-40mins (omitting the oil), which gives you a less crispy chicken but it’s lower in fat as well. You can also start off with frying for about 15 mins to brown the chicken, and then throwing it in the oven to bake for another 20-30mins. There are alot of variations to cooking this recipe, as you can see.

My Dad’s motto (courtesy of Chef Michael Smith) is “never make the same dish twice”.

After 20 mins, turn each piece with a fork or spatula (watch yourself!) and let cook for another 15-20 mins, or until done. You may have to let them cook for another 10-15 mins depending on the size of the thighs.

If we had a secret weapon – this would be it! This recipe ‘wows’ people every single time. It’s thick, rich, and decadent. We’ve made it a few times now with a few minor variations, and it’s worked out great every time – we hope you like it!

You know how most people have a certain style of cooking? Well, not Nick – he’s the most versatile, well-rounded, and talented cook I know. He takes his time when cooking – it takes him most of the day to cook a meal… as it should when using traditional cooking methods But the end result is a dish that is complex, sophisticated, and so full of flavour! So, at first, this recipe may look a little intimidating, but please know that you will not be disappointed if you decide to take on this recipe.

One of Nick’s favorite cuisines to prepare is Thai food. His inspiration for this recipe comes from the time he spent at Yousabai farm in Northern Thailand, taking part in a weeklong Thai vegetarian cooking course. This dish contains a few special herbs that are essential to Thai cooking. Galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, and Thai basil. You may not recognize galangal and kaffir lime leaves, but these two herbs are indispensable in authentic Thai cooking. They are optional in this recipe because of the difficulty in finding these Thai herbs, but if happen to have them in your kitchen – bonus!

You can easily make this dish vegetarian/vegan by substituting chicken for fried tofu, or cooked chickpeas.

The heat from the chilies is balanced by the coconut milk, and the addition of Thai herbs and spices give this dish an authentic Thai flavour in the comfort of your own kitchen.

Author: Nicholas

Recipe type: gluten-free, dairy-free

Cuisine: Thai cooking, dinner

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

5 thai red chilies, de-seeded, soaked in warm water for 30 mins

2 chicken breasts, cut into strips

1 ½ cups wild rice blend, or long grain brown rice

2⅓ cup water

2-3 Tbsp coconut oil

2 medium onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp cumin seeds, whole

½ Tbsp coriander seeds, whole

3 Tbsp Thai red curry paste

1 can coconut milk

¼ cup tamari soy sauce

2 Tbsp coconut or cane sugar

1 Tbsp galangal powder, or 2Tbsp fresh chopped (optional)

5-10 keffir lime leaves (optional)

2 lemongrass stalks, chopped (optional)

1 cup green beans, fresh or frozen, cut into 1” pieces

½ cup green peas, fresh or frozen

½ cup zucchini, diced

½ cup broccoli florets, chopped

1 Tbsp dried thai basil, or 3 Tbsp if using fresh

cashews, roasted or dry roasted, for garnish

Instructions

Preparation:

In a small bowl, place red thai chili peppers in warm water to soak for 30 mins.

At the end of soaking time, remove chilies from water, chop off stems and cut lengthwise. Place chilies back in water and de-seed. When most of the seeds are removed (you can leave a few in for heat), take chilies out of water and chop well. Discard water & seeds. Transfer chopped chilies to a mortar. With a pestle and mortar, grind chilies into a paste. Set aside.

Cut chicken breasts into strips. Set aside.

Rinse rice, and add to a medium-sized pot with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and let sit for 45 mins. When done, fluff with a fork.

My sister, Jenna, created this recipe. If you know her, you probably didn’t know that she’s a fantastic cook – a very intuitive and brilliant cook! She has a taste for savoury flavours and can create delicious, healthy dishes intuitively just by adding a bit of this and a bit of that… You should hear her explain one of her recipes to me…”Then you add some dijon, and maybe a bit of lemon juice. Stir it around and just before its done, add whatever else you want”…. Not exactly easy to interpret into an easy-to-follow recipe And she doesn’t use measuring cups… ever. So, when I can catch her, I follow her around the kitchen, taking pictures so I don’t forget anything, and eventually we create a recipe.

This “cheese” sauce gets its cheesy flavour from nutritional yeast, which is a deactivated yeast that is high in B vitamins (don’t be alarmed when your pee turns bright yellow-green colour after eating this stuff – its just your body excreting the extra B vitamins that it doesn’t absorb). In the culinary world, you’ll see many people sprinkle nutritional yeast on popcorn or kale chips to give a cheesy flavour without the cheese.

If you want to make this dairy-free & vegan, substitute Earth Balance instead of butter, omit chicken and parmesan garnish.

When chicken is done, add veggies (except spinach) and sautee until almost done (about 10 mins). This will take about the same amount of time to make the sauce, so you can start the sauce while sautéing the veggies.

Preparing the sauce:

As veggies are sautéing, in a small saucepan, over medium heat, melt 2 Tbsp butter. While butter is melting, grate 3 cloves of garlic into butter. Add a few pinches of salt and pepper, and 2 Tbsp brown rice flour. Stir quickly to mix together well.

If you’ve seen our gluten and dairy-free Delicious Crepe recipe, then you’ll already be familiar with the ingredients and how to make this simple and yummy recipe – it is basically the same as the crepe recipe, but without any sweeteners. You can always get creative by adding herbs and spices to the batter, but they are also very good plain – so good that kids enjoy them too! Top them with your favourite dip, spread, veggies, and anything else that you can imagine.

When we’re hungry, we look for meals that are healthy, easy to make, relatively quick, and most importantly – delicious! The meal that most people prepare at home is supper, so this is what we decided to feature – what’s cooking for supper!

We’ve been compiling our favourite recipes have started posting them in a a series of posts labeled ‘Quick & Easy Healthy Homemade Meals’, which you can find in our Recipes section (be sure to find the ‘next page’ icon towards the bottom of the page to find earlier posts). Recipes that you’ll recognize are Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing, Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing, and Glory Bowl Dressing. Also, be on the lookout for recipes for Sunflower seed burgers, Chickpea chana masala, Ginger-tamari stirfry sauce, Quinoa salad rolls, and Quinoa crab cakes, and more.

Battered fish is tasty, but is often high in fat & carbohydrates, and contains gluten. This recipe is a great substitute, for those looking for a healthier version of battered fish. The light sesame oil has a high smoke point, so is safe for frying, and by using ground flax seeds as your batter, you will benefit from the high fibre content of flax seeds. Also, as a last cooking tip, it’s important to dry off the fish a little or the ground flax seeds will cake/clump onto the fish rather than coat it evenly. But even if your flax ends up being clumped on, it still ends up tasting good!

We like to serve this fish over Moroccan Quinoa, for a complete and satisfying meal.

Add coated fish to frying pan and fry on one side for about 3-5 mins. Turn fish to cook the other side for another 3 mins, or until flax seeds are dark brown. Remove from frying pan and place on a large plate*.

Add another 6-8 chunks fish to flax mixture and coat fish well. If you need more ground flax, add it at this point and any more seasonings, as you like.

Add another 1-2 Tbsp sesame oil to the pan, as needed. Repeat the above steps for frying the chunks of fish until you have no more fish left to fry.

* If you would like to remove excess oil, put a sheet or two of paper towel on a large plate. When removing fried fish from the frying pan, place fish on paper towel to soak up any excess oil.

We really like using soaked & boiled dried beans in all of our bean dishes (see ‘Vegetarian Chili’ recipe post on how to prepare dried beans), but when we don’t have time then we use canned beans. However, we choose to use Eden Organic’s canned beans because they are BPA-free. As a reminder, BPA is a hormone disruptor that mimics estrogen in our bodies. This is especially bad for our children, as they have immature & developing (and therefore vulnerable) hormonal systems that are affected by what we eat and the environment that surrounds us. Here is an article that is easy to read & also has more information on BPA-free food products.

– In a medium pot, cook rice according to package directions (usually about 20 minutes for white rice, 35-40 minutes for brown rice).

– Heat oil in a large skillet, add onion and garlic. Sautee for about 3 minutes. Add in rice, kidney beans, chopped tomatoes and spices. Stir to evenly coat ingredients. Add more cayenne or salt, as desired.

– Serve on its own or as a tortilla and garnish with any of the toppings mentioned above.

Using soaked dried beans really gives chili a fresh taste that is full of flavour – and it’s easier than you think! All you have to do is know that you want chili tomorrow night for dinner…

Place 2 cups of dried beans of your choice in 6 cups of water and leave them to soak for at least 8 hours. When you’re ready to use the beans, drain the water and rinse the beans. Then place the beans in a large pot with enough water to cover the beans by about one inch. Bring the water to a boil, and turn heat down to medium heat for about 30-40mins (replace any water, if needed). Meanwhile, prepare your veggies and any side dish. When beans are soft in texture, drain water and gently rinse beans. Now they are ready to use!

However if you didn’t make time to soak & boil the beans, and want to make up a quick chili, you can just use canned beans – they still make for a great chili. And you can find canned beans from Eden Organic which are BPA-free! (as a little reminder, BPA is an hormone disruptor which mimics estrogen, leading to healthy effects that are harmful to our women, men, and especially our children). As for canned tomatoes, there’s no company that makes BPA-free canned tomatoes as of yet. So, if you really want to reduce your intake of BPA (especially for your children), use home-canned tomatoes or diced tomatoes in glass jars. Here is an article that is easy to read & also has more information on BPA-free food products.

We like to serve this meal over short grain brown rice, or with a slice of toasted gluten-free bread – our favorites are kinnik-kinnick’s sunflower flax bread, Glutino’s flax seed bread, or any bakery-made or home-made bread. We also like Silvery Hill’s sprouted grain breads (they are not gluten-free) – Mack’s Flax, Big 16, or Squirrelly.

Soaked dried beans: Soak 2 cups dried beans (your choice: garbanzo, black, pinto, kidney) at least 8 hours or overnight in 6 cups of water. Drain water, rinse beans, and place in a large pot with enough water to cover the beans by about one inch. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and boil for about 30-40mins (replace water if needed). When beans are soft, drain and rinse gently… OR…Canned beans: Choose 2 of the following cans of beans: garbanzo, black, pinto, black eyed peas, cannellini, or kidney (small red) beans – ideally from a BPA-free source such as Eden Organic

– Add diced tomatoes and beans (we like to use a fork and mash some of the beans before adding to give the chili a nice thick texture). Bring to a near boil and reduce heat to simmer for about 15-20mins.

– Garnish & serve with rice or toast side dish (recommended above) for a filling meal.

(*To make this a Non-Vegetarian Chili, just cook 1 lb ground beef fully with onions and garlic. Add carrots after ground beef is cooked.)